SNA (Yokohama) — The appointment of moderate Yoshimasa Hayashi as Japanese foreign minister has elicited a good deal of discussion in the Chinese news media, with voices on both sides of the Taiwan Strait trying to interpret what it means for the region in an era of heightened tensions.

Particularly notable is that Hayashi had been serving as the chairman of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians’ Union, though he resigned upon taking his new post so as not to have it be a consistent point of attack for Japanese rightwingers and a distraction from his diplomatic duties.

As Hayashi himself publicly explained, “We shouldn’t suck up to China, but it’s not a problem to be deeply knowledgeable about China.”

In the mainland Chinese news media, Hayashi’s appointment has generally been regarded in a positive light, seeing it as an indication that the Kishida administration intends to be more “flexible” and “mild” in diplomatic relations with China.

According to Hong Kong-based Ming Pao, the Kishida administration is now able “to obtain a higher degree of freedom in dealing with Japan-China relations due to the Liberal Democratic Party securing the majority of seats in the House of Representatives general election.” It adds that Kishida is well aware of the diplomatic nuances of China since he was one of the participants of a 2014 meeting in Beijing which focused on controversial topics such as the Senkaku-Diaoyu islands dispute.

Ming Pao ventures, therefore, that the appointment of Hayashi signals Kishida’s intention to adopt a “dovish stance” towards the mainland.

Meanwhile, some Taiwan news outlets suggest more complex motives behind Hayashi’s appointment.

For example, Newtalk believes that the Kishida administration is aiming to achieve a “balance” in diplomatic relations between Japan, China, and Taiwan. One of its articles suggested that “by appointing Hayashi as Minister of Foreign Affairs while keeping Nobuo Kishi (pro-Taiwanese) as the Minister of Defense, Kishida is signaling that he won’t side exclusively with either country.”

Newtalk also observed that Japanese politicians have become more reluctant to reveal any affiliations with China due to the growth of the far-right influence in Japan in recent years. It suggests that in order to avoid accusations of being soft on China, many of those Japanese politicians labelled “pro-China” are pushed to actively criticize human rights violations by the Chinese Communist Party, especially topics such as the Hong Kong anti-extradition law protests and the issue of Xinjiang internment camps.

In sum, the Chinese media is more-or-less united in seeing Yoshimasa Hayashi as a knowledgeable foreign minister who may help to ease regional tensions, but whether or not his appointment truly represents a check on the political ascendancy of the rise of the Japanese rightwing remains to be seen.

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